UTEP FB falls to No. 10 Tennessee 56-0
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (KVIA) -- The UTEP defense held no. 10/11 Tennessee scoreless in the first quarter, but the Volunteers (9-2) defeated the Miners (2-9) 56-0 in Neyland Stadium in front of 101, 915 fans on Saturday afternoon.
“The kids played extremely hard and I’m really proud of them. I told them there’s no such thing as moral victories but let’s be real, they’re one of the top football teams in the nation and will compete in the national football playoff and very proud of our kids’ fight,” UTEP Head Coach Scotty Walden said. “There was not one time these kids back down or lay down.”
Kenny Odom tied his career best with eight receptions for 70 yards, while JP Pickles finished 10-of-15 for 72 yards in relief. Defensively, Dorian Hopkins, Lantz Russell and Xavier Smith each tallied seven tackles to lead the Miners. UTEP tallied three sacks as Maurice Westmoreland, Kyran Duhon and Nate Dyman each tallied one. Westmoreland leads the team with 5.5 sacks, while Duhon has 5.0 and Dyman 1.5 on the season.
Trey Goodman completed a 27-yard pass to Skyler Locklear, giving the Miners possession at the Tennessee 41. However, Locklear threw an interception on a deep pass to Goodman. The Vols’ Jermod McCoy picked off the pass at the Tennessee 3.
Following a back-and-forth first quarter in which both teams exchanged possessions multiple times, Dylan Sampson found pay dirt on a 14-yard rush to put the Vols up 7-0 at the 13:22 mark in the second.
Following a UTEP turnover, Tennessee took over at the UTEP 36. The Vols used five plays to get into the end zone on a Nico Iamaleava nine-yard touchdown to Squirrel White, taking a 14-0 lead at the 7:33 mark.
The Volunteers increased the lead to 21-0 following an Ethan Davis one-yard touchdown reception from Iamaleava with 2:19 left in the half.
Tennessee extended the lead to 28-0 on Iamaleava’s third touchdown pass of the half, an 18-yard strike to Bru McCoy with eight seconds remaining in the half.
Tennessee ballooned the lead to 42-0 in the third quarter as McCoy hauled in his second touchdown reception on a seven-yard catch from Iamaleava at the 13:22 mark, and Peyton Lewis scored on a three-yard rush at the 8:09 mark.
Following a missed 52-yard field goal attempt by Buzz Flabiano, Lewis scored his second TD of the day on a six-yard dash to the end zone to make the count 49-0.
Cameron Sheldon’s three-yard TD finished off the scoring spree by the Vols at the 8:24 mark of the fourth.
Iamaleava finished 17-of-23 for 209 yards and four touchdown passes. Sampson rushed for a game-high 77 yards and scored his 22nd TD of the season. Boo Carter led the Vols with six tackles.
UP NEXT
UTEP will close year one of the Scotty Walden era at rival NM State in the 101st Battle of I-10 on Nov. 30 at Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces. The Miners and Aggies are set to kick off at 2 p.m. MT, while the contest will be streamed on ESPN+ and can be heard on 600 AM ESPN.
